Whisper it, but Manchester United’s transfer window is threatening to go from a good one to a great one.
With frustration growing and momentum stalling following the early acquisitions of Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro from Bologna and Lille respectively, there were concerns among some sections of the Red Devils support that a proposed Ineos-led rebuild would have to wait until 2025.
The David Ornstein bombshell which fell to earth on Saturday afternoon, then, could hardly have come at a better time.
Only 90 minutes or so before Manchester United were due to kick off the Community Shield against Man City at Wembley, Ornstein took to X to confirm that Erik ten Hag’s side had finally agreed a deal to bring in both Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.
Both are due to arrive from a Bayern Munich side under pressure to sell.
Speculation over the former had rumbled since the start of the window. De Ligt, Ten Hag’s former Ajax captain, is finally set to join for an initial fee of £38 million.
While the Community Shield will obviously come too soon for either De Ligt or Mazraoui – who should arrive pending a medical for a bargain up front fee of £12.8 million – a debut on the Premier league curtain-raiser against Fulham next weekend cannot be discounted.
Manchester United agree De Ligt and Mazraoui double deal
Of course, the Mazraoui deal could have happened a fair bit sooner. The issue was, United could not really afford to move without Aaron Wan-Bissaka exiting first.
But is that the sound of everything falling into place? The sight of dominoes falling?
Fabrizio Romano then took to social media himself to utter the three words the Man United fans praying for Mazraoui’s arrival had been waiting for.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka to West Ham United; ‘here we go’.
Romano adds that Wan-Bissaka, who’s departure appeared to have been complicated by his contract situation at Man United, will belatedly seal a £15 million deal that sees him become the latest high-profile addition to Julen Lopetegui’s new-look squad.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s West Ham move is imminent
West Ham confirmed earlier in the weekend that they had won the race to sign Jean-Clair Todibo from Nice.
Of course, Todibo could have arrived at Old Trafford instead of De Ligt had UEFA not blocked the transfer of players from one Ineos-controlled club to another.
“They’ve said we can sell him to another Premiership club, but we can’t sell to Manchester United,” Sir Jim Ratcliffe told Bloomberg after that ruling was made.
“But that’s not fair on the player and I don’t see what that achieves.”
One suspects that Ratcliffe will be a little happier now, however, with Man United set to take their tally of summer signings to four.
De Ligt, in particular, feels like a superb bit of business at such a price. Especially with Ten Hag set to be without the services of marquee arrival Yoro for three months.
The Frenchman suffered a broken foot in only his second United appearance against Arsenal in pre-season.
Mazraoui, meanwhile, is another who worked under Ten Hag at Ajax, like Antony, Andre Onana and Lisandro Martinez.
Versatile, two-footed and highly-technically gifted, the Morocco international should prove to be an upgrade on Wan-Bissaka in possession while offering competition in both full-back positions.
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